


to get where I belong

by hoodedmiho (missMHO)



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Gambling, M/M, Mostly Fluff, Pining, Post-Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Rogue One Alternate Universe – Everybody Lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:41:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23984755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missMHO/pseuds/hoodedmiho
Summary: Bodhi agrees to the last mission with Luke to help retrieve lost Jedi holocrons before he leaves to start his own Jedi academy. After unexpected complications in the plan, Bodhi still decides to go with it, despite being aware that he will probably end up heart broken by the end of it. That’s what he gets for being foolish enough to fall for a galactic hero.
Relationships: Bodhi Rook/Luke Skywalker
Comments: 15
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there!  
> As a rareship connoisseur in every fandom I fall into, of course I found roguejedi soon into my True Star Wars Phase Of 2020. I love these boys together and I hope you'll like my addition to this ship's content :D
> 
> Special thanks to [Ofermod](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofermod/pseuds/ofermod), [Kas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kas_delafere/), and [Lin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thekasialin) who beta'd this chapter <3

Bodhi watches as the realspace around them blurs into white and black and asks himself, once again, what is he doing on this mission, really?

It is quite futile as the answer is obvious and literally sitting next to him in the co-pilot seat.

Luke Skywalker.

Only yesterday Luke approached Bodhi asking if he'd join him. It made Bodhi realize he was the last choice Luke was left with after everyone else declined but he knew he wouldn’t find it in himself to deny the man’s offer. Luke is going to leave soon to start the Jedi academy and Bodhi is _weak_ and will take every chance to spend time with the other man when he still has the opportunity. However, there’s one thing that doesn’t really make sense in this scenario…

“So, you got the invitations for us from Lando?”

“Yeah, it turned out it’s not that easy to get a meeting with Kin’ng so I started asking around if anyone maybe knows them or something,” Luke relaxes into his seat, watching the space passing by them. “And _of course_ Lando knows this bizarre collector of space junk and can get us a way in,” Luke snorts and they share a smile. “It’s a _week-long party_ , who even does that?”

Bodhi looks down at his clothes, which for once look more presentable than his usual style – which could only be described as _whatever’s comfortable to fly long-hours in and has lots of pockets to keep tools around_ – and again decides that he must have been the last choice. He had to borrow some outfits from Cassian since his own extent of neat clothes wouldn’t last him for more than two days.

The invitations must have simply been for Skywalker plus one. That would explain how this whole mission works with him agreeing to it only yesterday.

“Let’s go over the backstory again, you know I’m not the best at the undercover stuff,” Bodhi brushes some stray hair behind his ear in an absent-minded gesture. “You should have taken Cassian with you.”

Luke shakes his head.

“I wanted _you_ ,” he retorts and makes a weird, almost panicked pause before continuing. “I think you’ll pass much better as my business partner. We’re supposed to be buyers of a Jedi artifact and you’re Jedhan, it makes sense you’ll be my expert.”

Bodhi frowns, his theory about being the last choice for the mission crumbling again. “So you’ve actually planned this before and only asked me about this yesterday?”

“I may have already told Lando for the invitation to include you _before_ I asked you about it?” Luke scratches the back of his neck nervously and gazes apologetically at Bodhi through his eyelashes. “I’m sorry I assumed, I just… I really hoped you’d say yes.”

Bodhi doesn’t really know what to say to that. There’s warmth settling somewhere in his chest with the knowledge that he wasn’t the last choice after all. He was the very first.

He has to scold himself for belittling his own importance to Luke once again. He knows Luke enjoys their missions together, they’ve become friends somewhere along the way after their first flight together; when Luke has just become the hero that blew up the Death Star and Bodhi was trying to put his mind back into something workable after Bor Gullet made a mess in there. Bonds forged during the war are a bit different than the ones that may develop in regular circumstances and Luke never gave Bodhi any reason to doubt theirs – but the war is over now. Luke is going to leave soon to start his own academy for the new Jedi and Bodhi will still be just a pilot, flying for the New Republic for as long as they want him since he doesn’t really have anywhere else to go…

Luke will soon forget him when the circumstances no longer make it easy for their paths to cross and Bodhi will probably never––

He was just coming round with all this, saying goodbye to Luke on his own terms, and then he asked Bodhi to join him on this mission.

Bodhi looks at Luke and realizes that he still hasn't replied in any way to the other man’s statement and he clears his throat in embarrassment. But Luke is patiently waiting for him.

It’s been some time since Bodhi last drifted off in the middle of conversation because of his scrambled mind, as it used to extensively happen after Saw Gerrera’s _interrogation_ , but even now Luke is still understanding as he always was and gives Bodhi time to gather his thoughts.

“Well, you should be glad I did say yes then, your planning skills are impeccable as always,” Bodhi finally retorts, hoping to bury his awkwardness with the teasing. Fortunately, Luke does grin at that with an oversold innocence and the tension dissipates.

Well, he should just enjoy this, Bodhi decides. This is most probably Bodhi’s last chance to spend time with Luke, enjoy his smiles, and gather some more memories to remember him by during the endless cargo runs for the New Republic that are his inevitable future.

“So, Lando arranged the invitations to the ridiculously long party,” Bodhi returns to going through their briefing again. “We’re supposed to mingle, check the place out, and then steal from the person who’ll be feeding us expensive food for the next few days?”

“Well, is it stealing if these are _Jedi_ holocrons taken from a _Jedi_ temple and, you know, _I’m a Jedi_?” Luke muses, his eyebrows raised in contemplation. “ _Technically_ , they belong to the Jedi so I’ll be just retrieving them?”

“Retrieving them when Kin’ng isn’t looking,” Bodhi challenges.

“Preferably.”

Their bickering is simply natural at this point but every now and then Bodhi feels a bitter pang in his chest, knowing that soon he’ll no longer be able to have these conversations with Luke. Or any of his friends, to be candid. Baze and Chirrut will be leaving with Luke to establish the academy. Jyn and Cassian are helping to build intelligence services for the New Republic and technically they’ll be on the same planet but once they’re not all cramped into one rebel base, Bodhi knows they won’t really see each other much. It’ll be just him and the cargo and the expanse of space once more.

It doesn’t take them long to reach Painite. Bodhi has heard of the planet before but never visited it. He didn’t really have a reason to – the whole planet is one big entertainment realm. Most of its surface is covered with oceans and every island contains its own complex of hotels and leisure centres. They are heading to the only island that’s not open to the public and can be entered only by Kin’ng’s invitation. It starts to feel kind of surreal now that Bodhi finally moved over the notion of being on a mission with Luke in general.

Security is tight, as expected. Bodhi really hopes that Lando delivered and there will be no complications popping up already upon entering Kin’ng’s island.

“Please provide the code included in the invitation.”

Luke gives the flight control the authorization code with confidence and the reply comes quickly.

“Code accepted. Welcome to Painite, Mr. and Mr. Skywalker.”

Bodhi chokes on his own breath and turns to Luke. The other man is clearly in as much shock as Bodhi, his blue eyes wide and staring at the communication console as if it just punched him.

“I’m sorry, there was interference, could you repeat?” Luke stammers out, avoiding looking at Bodhi.

“I said that the code was accepted…”

Bodhi holds his breath for the second part of the message.

“… and that you’re welcome to Painite, Mr. and Mr. Skywalker.”

So they both heard it right.

“We’ll deal with whatever this is later,” Bodhi sighs, massaging his temple when he sees that Luke froze again. “Let’s just land for now since the invitation worked to let us in at least.”

Luke nods, then thanks for the welcome and asks for landing coordinates as if nothing was out of order. Bodhi gets their ship on the ground in the assigned dock where there’s a droid waiting for them to guide them, calling them _Mr. and Mr. Skywalker_ once again, but they keep going with it until they’re within the privacy of their room (yes, singular room) to discuss what is going on. The mission comes first. They’re in. That’s most important for now.

Bodhi really hopes this will all turn out to be a misunderstanding, but when he enters the room it is obvious that it was prepared for a couple. There’s just one bed with heart-shaped decorative pillows and a bottle of pink alcohol with two glasses and some fruits waiting for them on the table.

He sits down heavily on one of the chairs next to the table, doing his best to ignore what’s standing on it, and looks at Luke.

“I assume Lando didn’t mention anything about _this_?”

Luke shakes his head. “I told him we’re supposed to be _business_ partners,” he sounds both flustered and frustrated. Opposed to Bodhi, Luke’s pacing around the room, his eyes jumping between the obnoxiously couply bed and Bodhi.

“Let’s comm him, there must be an explanation.”

Luke nods and finally sits down. He moves the food and the alcohol to the side and puts his communicator on the table’s surface between them.

Of course, Lando doesn’t pick up.

“I’ll try Han, maybe he’ll know why we can’t reach him.”

Fortunately, Han answers right away. Luke gives a short explanation why they’re trying to reach Lando and at first they only get laughter in response.

“Oh kriff, _he didn’t,_ ” Han is positively wailing at this point. “He’s not picking up on purpose if he set you up like this.”

“We need to contact him, he has to fix this, there’s no way we’ll get a chance to get the holocrons again!” Luke sounds more like a petulant child than a Jedi Master but Bodhi totally shares the sentiment right now.

“Or you can just go with it and still get your precious Jedi toy,” Han sounds overly amused. Luke and Bodhi share a bewildered glance and both look away quickly. “From what I’ve heard, Kin’ng is actually a decent person for someone so rich and… quite a romantic! They’re known to be doing private tours of their collection for people they’re fond of,” Han seems to be getting excited with the plan he’s weaving. “If you play along with Lando’s joke and win Kin’ng over as a cute couple, they’ll probably show you to the holocrons themselves.”

“Thanks for nothing, Han,” Bodhi finishes the conversation and slides the communicator back to Luke across the table. “So what do we do now?”

Bodhi was thrown into this mission just yesterday and it didn’t seem too complicated. He was supposed to have fun at a party organized by an eccentric collector, throw some Jedi legends he knows from home into a conversation, and enjoy spending time with Luke.

So far, they haven’t been here for even an hour and he’s already getting a headache.

Luke fidgets with the communicator for a while and when he finally speaks, he doesn’t look up at Bodhi and instead keeps staring at his own hands.

“As much as I hate to say it, I think we have to go with Han’s plan.” Luke takes a deep breath. “But I don’t want you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with, Bodhi, this is not what you signed up for.”

No, this is not what he signed up for.

The thing is, Bodhi’s biggest issue with the plan isn’t that he doesn’t want to do it. Bodhi’s biggest issue is that he really _wants to._ Bodhi’s biggest issue is that he knows this will be the most bittersweet experience of his life.

He’ll get to know what it’s like to publicly be Luke’s _husband_ and all that entails but it will all just be a play with no real feelings behind it on the other man’s part and Bodhi will be suffocating inside with frustration. This is the only chance fate is giving him to get a hollow taste of being with Luke. Besides, ignoring his ridiculous crush on the man, this is still a mission which holds value to Luke. Bodhi knows how important it is for Luke to start the Jedi academy on his own terms and if these holocrons are that crucial for its establishment, Bodhi will do anything he can to help obtain them.

Once again, Bodhi is too weak when it comes to Luke Skywalker. He agreed to this mission last minute and now he’s going to go along with significant changes to the original plan, fully aware that he’ll end up hurt by the end of it.

That’s what he gets for being foolish enough to fall for a galactic hero.

“If you really feel like this is the best way to get the holocrons, then let’s do it.”

Luke finally looks up at him, his blue eyes full of wonder. Bodhi's heart aches already.

“Really? You’ll do it?”

“If you really believe that someone like me can pass for a Jedi’s husband,” Bodhi scoffs. He really doesn’t think he can. He’s just a pilot from Jedha who somehow survived the war, who would even believe that he caught the eye of a living legend? This knowledge is what kept him from considering making a move on Luke all this time. Luke was really unlucky that he ended up with Bodhi of all people on this mission when Lando felt like doing pranks like this.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Luke says, completely dismissing Bodhi’s doubt. As always, he’s ready to improvise as he goes. Bodhi sighs.

“So… how do we go about this?” Bodhi asks, feeling his cheeks heat up and his imagination starts providing him with all the things involved with being _Mr Skywalker_. “If Kin’ng really is a romantic as Han says,” Bodhi looks pointedly to the heart-shaped pillows, “and we have to win them over as a ‘cute couple’… Then it won’t just cut it to hold hands at dinner and disappear into our room after exchanging pleasantries. We have to discuss what we’re okay with…”

Bodhi is really grateful for his darker complexion that hides most of his embarrassing blush right now because he feels uncomfortably hot all of a sudden just discussing these things. _Damn you_ , Luke Skywalker, making him act like a teenager with a crush. He’s a grown man who survived the war and this is just another mission.

Luke’s eyes widen as if it only just hit him what pretending to be married as part of this particular mission will call for.

That’s when the knock on the door comes and Bodhi almost jumps in his seat. Luke mumbles something incomprehensible under his breath and goes to answer. The minute it takes for the Jedi to return is enough for Bodhi to have a small crisis about the mission again.

“The opening dinner is in half an hour,” Luke announces. “We shouldn’t be late if we’re supposed to make a good impression.”

They hurriedly make themselves presentable, refreshing after the journey, and make it to the hall where the dinner is taking place just on time. Only once they enter the ornate hall with at least two dozen tables and a droid approaches them to show Mr. and Mr. Skywalker to their seats, does Bodhi remember that they didn’t finish their conversation back then in the room.

They’ll have to improvise. What else is new about missions with Luke?

First part of the evening goes by smoothly. Bodhi honestly expected some opening speeches or anything else in that order but as the time for the dinner arrives, the food is served with no special ado. Even though their table could seat four people, no one else joins them for the meal and Bodhi is quite grateful for that. The day has been eventful enough so far so he’s glad to have a moment to simply enjoy the expensive food and take in the place. He rarely had an occasion to be part of such splendid parties and while it’s not really his element, he can’t deny that it’s an exciting experience. Luke seems in awe of the place as well, looking around the hall and observing all the other fabulously dressed guests.

Luke and Bodhi mostly talk about the food. How some tastes are a first for them – and with these they share their opinions on whether it’s something they would be willing to fight someone for the last bite or if it’s something they would exchange for the bland ration bars. Bodhi gets a laugh or two at the faces Luke makes when the current try is something of the latter category. But there is also this one fruit that makes Luke positively moan and Bodhi squirms in his seat, his imagination providing him with visuals of different situations in which the Jedi may let out such a sound.

Suddenly, a whole week of this seems an impossible feat to pull through.

After the dessert platters and drinks are served to every table, they finally take notice of their host making rounds around the hall. Bodhi feels anxiety stirring in his stomach once again. He fidgets with his drink as they wait for their turn for the collector’s full attention.

“We should sit closer,” Luke says when Kin’ng finally heads towards their corner of the hall. Bodhi mutters an affirmation and moves so that their chairs bump together with no space between their seats. They’re not really flushed together but Bodhi can feel the heat of Luke’s body next to him and _stars_ , that shouldn’t be enough to make him nervous.

They still haven’t talked about how this pretending to be husbands is really supposed to work in terms of PDA but it doesn’t seem the right place here in the hall full of guests.

At last, their turn to meet the host comes.

“The Skywalkers, am I right?” Kin’ng beams at them, joining their table. Even while simply taking a seat, they do it with a flourish somehow. Bodhi knew they’re Chiss so he was ready for the penetrating red eyes but he didn’t expect Kin’ng’s hair to be bleached to perfectly pure white, cascading over their shoulders in a captivating contrast to the deep blue skin. They undoubtedly own the look.

“And you must be our host,” Luke smiles openly. “It’s great to finally meet you!”

“Not as great as sharing a drink with a real Jedi,” Kin’ng raises their glass and both Luke and Bodhi follow with their own. They all drink a silent toast to the meeting.

“I’ve never heard of married Jedi before,” Kin’ng doesn’t beat around the bush and eyes them with curiosity sparkling in the red eyes.

“Well, I wasn’t traditionally trained so you could say I’m a new order, different than the legends we know,” Luke explains with a shrug and then turns to look at Bodhi.

Bodhi feels Luke’s arm wrap around his waist, the Jedi’s hand resting on his hip, this time bringing them flushed together. When their eyes meet, there’s a question in Luke’s eyes and Bodhi smiles in response, knowing that the other man will read it as an agreement to whatever the query was. Then Luke gets even closer and his lips brush against the corner of Bodhi’s mouth.

Bodhi’s heart is pounding in his ears so loudly that he barely registers Luke’s next words. It was barely a kiss and Bodhi is already a mess, how could he think the fake marriage is a good idea?

“I can’t imagine how my bond with Bodhi would make me a worse Jedi,” he turns back to Kin’ng as he continues speaking. “He’s my anchor.”

Bodhi feels light-headed from the kiss and the words and simultaneously a bit nauseous when his mind reminds him that this is all a performance for their host.

Speaking of – are they buying it so far?

Bodhi dares to look up at Kin’ng and is glad to discover that they are staring at them with delight.

“Ah, young love,” they sigh and turn to Bodhi, aiming their next statement at him, noticeably trying to encourage him to join the conversation. Well, he was kind of reserved so far so he listens with an open expression. “It must have been hard, getting married during the war.”

“As everything else, I suppose,” he laughs, trying to keep the conversation from becoming too gloomy. “We got the invitations here as a gift actually, since we never had a chance to have a proper honeymoon,” he improvises and feels Luke’s hand squeeze around his hip in surprise but he thankfully manages not to start.

“Oh, that’s wonderful,” Kin’ng claps their hands in glee. Han was right, they really are a romantic. “You don’t have to be guarded about _fully_ enjoying your time here on Painite, especially on this island,” Kin’ng says cospirationally, eyeing Bodhi’s mouth and he suddenly realizes that they’re commenting on the barely-there-kiss they’ve just witnessed. “We _love_ to celebrate _love_ here.”

“Thank you,” Bodhi stammers out, feeling Luke’s hand tighten its grip on his hip again. “We’re simply not really used to being so _open_ ,” he adds with a nervous smile. “We never really advertised this relationship since it seemed ill-advised with so many enemies after our heads…”

Stars, it’s _too easy_ coming up with this, too easy imagining this is _real_. At least Kin’ng seems to be eating it all up just like they hoped they would.

“Yes, I have noticed you’re not wearing wedding rings or anything as such,” Kin’ng says, their voice tinted with sadness.

“I didn’t want to put an even bigger target on Bodhi by associating him with me back then,” Luke chimes in this time, expanding on Bodhi's story.

Kin’ng smiles endearingly at Luke and then raises their drink one again.

“To your happiness, Skywalkers,” they say. “May you finally enjoy your love to the fullest!”

Bodhi’s drink suddenly tastes a lot more bitter than before while toasting that particular wish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I appreciate all kudos and comments dearly, they're the best fuel to continue writing <3  
> I will try to update soon but the plague lockdown situation really messes up with my ability to focus on tasks for longer periods of time so I'm sorry in advance if it takes long for new chapter to appear :c
> 
> You can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/hoodedmiho) and [tumblr](http://missmho.tumblr.com/) if you want to scream together about how Bodhi deserved so much better!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm not dead!  
> No matter my intentions about updating this sooner, writing in lockdown is not going too well :c But I have finally managed to produce a full chapter for all of you still interested in this story. I really hope to post the next update sooner than this but I know I shouldn't promise anything with how this year is going…  
> But well, I hope you'll still enjoy this chapter! Big thank you to all of you who left kudos and commented on the first chapter, I really appreciate it <3
> 
> Special thanks to [Ofermod](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofermod/pseuds/ofermod) and [Kas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kas_delafere/) who beta'd this <3

They leave for their room soon after people start vacating their tables. They can socialize and keep winning Kin’ng’s heart later, after they work more on their undercover story. They have been preparing for a completely different scenario beforehand and it’s only luck that so far they managed not to mess the whole mission up.

“You always say you’re not good at undercover missions but the backstory you came up with back there was pretty solid,” Luke says once they’re back in their room. Bodhi sighs in answer, only half agreeing.

“At least now we have a pretty good base for not being too couply in public,” Bodhi muses. He’s not looking at Luke while talking about this, the memory of that brief kiss still burning in his mind, but instead he occupies himself with digging through his bag for sleeping clothes. Bodhi actually knows exactly where they are but continuing to fumble with the garments is a good way to busy himself during this conversation. “I think Kin’ng really bought that protection angle so it should be okay if we’re not all over each other but still try to win them over as supposed husbands.”

“I hope you’re okay with that kiss back there?” Luke sounds tense and his voice is quieter than usual. Bodhi stops shuffling the clothes around. “We didn’t finish that discussion before dinner about how we’re going about this but–”

“It’s fine,” Bodhi chimes in before Luke overanalyzes what happened. He finally looks up at the other man. “I agreed to being Mr Skywalker and what that entails. I think keeping it what we did tonight should work for the rest of the mission.”

Luke nods but he still seems concerned about something. Whatever it may be, he doesn’t share it with Bodhi.

“Do you mind if I do some meditation?” he asks instead.

“Go on, I’ll find something to do without getting in your way,” Bodhi smiles encouragingly and Luke finally smiles back.

“You’re never in my way,” he replies as he takes a seat on the plush carpet next to the bed with his legs crossed. He gives Bodhi one last look before closing his eyes and starting the meditation.

Bodhi lets out a heavy breath and finally stops bothering with the clothes in his bag. He’s glad to take a breather as well. This was an emotionally draining day but meditation never worked for him no matter how many times Chirrut made him try. He looks around the room for something to help him gather his thoughts and only now notices they have a balcony.

His curiosity piqued, he decides to check it out. It turns out to be quite spacious and doesn’t seem cluttered even with two lounge chairs, a table, and some knick-knacks for decoration. Bodhi takes a seat on one of the chairs and relaxes into the soft pillows. He can see the night sky from here and the sight is comforting.

His moment of peace does not last long before his communicator announces an incoming call. Bodhi stares at it for a moment, offended at the device interrupting his rest, but knows that he should take it. He’s on a mission, he should answer all communications if he’s not in danger.

“So Han told me this crazy story about how Lando has put you on the guest list as married?” Jyn gets straight to the point.

“Yes, he did exactly that,” Bodhi confirms, not hiding his irritation.

“So how did you deal with this? I know it was an important mission for Luke.”

It takes a moment for Bodhi to brace himself and actually talk about their plan out loud.

“We went with it…”

“You went with it,” Jyn repeats in a flat tone. Bodhi rubs his face with his hand. What is he supposed to say?

“You’re pretending to be married,” Jyn specifies when the silence stretches. There’s an edge to her voice that makes Bodhi happy that this isn’t a face to face conversation.

“Yes.”

“Oh, Bodhi,” she sighs.

Bodhi winces. Jyn is one of the two people who actually know about his crush on Luke – the other is Chirrut and Bodhi once almost choked to death on the tea they were drinking together when the monk revealed this knowledge. More than once Jyn has offered herself as a shoulder to lean on if he ever wanted to talk about it but Bodhi never took it. She didn’t seem content with his decision to bottle up the whole thing and pretend it doesn’t exist but she never pushed. But now that he got himself into this mess, he has a feeling she’ll no longer tolerate his denial to talk about the issue.

“It’s an important mission for Luke,” Bodhi replies what Jyn has said at the beginning of the conversation, knowing very well that this is not the answer she’s waiting for. “We went with what was necessary to go on with it.”

“I don’t want you to get hurt by your own kindness, Bodhi,” her voice is quiet, without anger that Bodhi would actually prefer now.

“Oh don’t worry, going with it was in equal part being a selfish infatuated idiot,” Bodhi jokes and counts it as a win when he hears Jyn snort.

“Well, I know I can’t do anything to make you back out of it,” Jyn sighs again. “Just… Don’t make it harder on yourself than it must be, okay? And call me whenever you need.”

“Okay. Thanks, Jyn.”

“ _Whenever_ you need.”

Bodhi smiles and asks how things are going with her and Cassian. She allows the change of subject and he gladly listens to her account of their day and how irritating she finds a Devaronian they’ve recently been working with.

After finishing the conversation with Jyn, Bodhi decides to get ready to sleep. He’ll need to be well-rested to handle whatever the rest of his time as Mr Skywalker will bring. He shamelessly takes advantage of the luxurious en-suite ‘fresher and takes a long shower using the provided sweetly-scented cosmetics. He’s feeling quite relaxed after that indulgence – up to the moment when Bodhi re-enters the bedroom and realizes he should head for _their_ bed now.

It’s not that they’re going to sleep next to each other for the first time. They’ve been on missions together before. But it was usually something more like sharing the nearby space for their sleeping bags and not actually using the same king-sized bed with heart-shaped pillows strewn all over it.

“I’ll head in if you’re finished?” Luke’s voice almost startles Bodhi and he realizes that he’s been standing in front of the refresher’s entrance, blocking the other man’s way, while he was having an existential crisis about their sleeping arrangements.

“Yeah, sure, sorry,” Bodhi moves towards the bed and lets out an irritated huff of air once Luke closes the refresher’s door behind him.

“Stop being weird about it, just go to sleep,” he murmurs to himself.

Bodhi removes all the heart-shaped pillows from the bed and throws them behind the nearby couch, out of sight. Then he slips under the covers, as far away from the other side of the bed as possible.

It’s just sleeping next to each other on a mission.

ж

It’s unusual for Bodhi to be waking up without any alarm so he’s coming to slowly, at first not really remembering where he is and why he was allowed to sleep in. At first, he registers that whatever bed he’s lying on, it’s much more comfortable than what he’s used to. He slowly opens his eyes and his groggy mind jumps to alertness very quickly once he sees Luke’s sleeping face definitely too near to his own. He freezes in place, taking everything in, almost in panic. They’re both laying on their sides, facing each other, so close it would take just a small shuffle to be able to lock in a tight embrace. They must have both moved in their sleep towards the center of the bed and now…

Bodhi’s breath hitches as he’s staring at Luke’s serene expression. The other man is rarely anything but cheerful but throughout the war Bodhi has seen the shadows lurking beneath the smiles, the new lines on that beautiful face that did not always accompany a smile but rather a frown; the anger and sorrow stifling the youthful naivety in the blue eyes. The peaceful sleep has smoothed out all the lines and worries and Bodhi can’t help but stare.

Bodhi allows himself a longer moment to take in the sight but he doesn’t overindulge… and, well, he really needs to use the toilet. He tries to get up as quietly as possible but he can hear Luke stirring awake once Bodhi leaves the bed. He flees to the ‘fresher, giving both of them some more time to wake up before facing each other and today’s challenges.

While he’s washing his hands, there’s a loud knock on their door but fortunately he hears Luke going to get it. The conversation doesn’t reach him in the ‘fresher but when he’s back in their room, Luke calls out a cheerful:

“Good morning, we got breakfast delivered!” Luke wheels a whole cart with food next to the bed and takes a seat on the mattress. Bodhi decides not to comment that they have an actual table with chairs _right there_ and simply sits down on the other side of the cart. He just really wants caf right now.

“Good morning,” he finally replies. “We must have really scored with Kin’ng yesterday, huh?”

While he’s pouring himself a cup, he notices something in the middle of the cart that is not part of a usual breakfast. There’s an ornamental box with a small ribbon and a tag saying _The Skywalkers_ on top. Bodhi hums, intrigued, and reaches for it.

Luke has already started eating and he has one cheek full of bread when he asks: “What’s that?”

Bodhi opens the box carefully. The first thing he sees inside is a hand-written note saying _Celebrate your love_. It’s not signed but it’s pretty obvious this is a gift from their host. Under the note, there are two smaller boxes. Each containing a ring.

Bodhi freezes, staring. What have they gotten themselves into, really?

“Are those… wedding rings?” Luke asks. He must have gotten impatient because he’s now on Bodhi’s side of the cart, hovering over him to peek into the box. He didn’t even notice when the Jedi moved, too dumbfounded by the sight of their gift.

“Looks like Kin’ng was really moved by our war love story…” Bodhi muses, feeling kind of numb. It’s not even noon, he already had to go through waking up next to Luke, and now this?

“I think we have to wear them now?” Luke takes one of the ring boxes into his hand and examines it more closely. “Not to insult Kin’ng.”

Bodhi nods and takes the other box. The ring seems to be suspended in some kind of translucent gel inside. He frowns and looks back into the delivery box for answers – fortunately there's a pamphlet inside. Luke sits down on the bed right next to Bodhi to read it at the same time.

It turns out the rings are made out of metal that underwent a special kind of treatment. Once taken out of the gel, the ring should be put onto the intended wearer’s finger and in the next few minutes it will assume the most optimal size and permanently solidify.

“These must have been expensive,” Luke gulps, looking at the box still in his hand with apprehension now.

“We still should accept, if we’re going with the becoming-Kin’ng’s-friends plan.”

Luke agrees and Bodhi goes through the pamphlet again so that they don’t mess anything up while putting the rings on, even though the process seems uncomplicated.

Once they're out of the gel and on their fingers, Bodhi can take a really good look at them. The rings are simple but Bodhi finds them beautiful. They’re almost plain in shape, made out of a metal so light in its colouring that it seems almost white. There’s a narrow groove going all around through its middle, revealing that underneath the white finish, the metal is glistening with all possible colours, all blending one into another.

Bodhi is so taken with watching the morning light reflect in it that he actually jumps when Luke suddenly lowers his hand onto Bodhi’s, putting the rings next to each other.

“I have to admit that they’re quite pretty,” Luke murmurs while Bodhi is trying to calm down. It’s not an easy feat with Luke so close and their hands – with their matching wedding rings – still touching.

This is just a mission and the rings are simply part of their disguise. There’s nothing special to it.

ж

There are no activities planned before dinner for today so they decide to take a walk to get a better feel of the place. After all, now that the Lando-induced crisis is somehow under control, they should start looking for the artifact. They can’t rely solely on becoming Kin’ng’s favourites and being taken to the Jedi collection by their host. The theft – or rather, _reacquisition_ as Luke calls it – is still the plan.

“The collection is somewhere on this island, I wonder if maybe I’ll be able to somehow _sense_ where the Jedi artifacts are kept,” Luke muses as they get ready to leave their room but he doesn’t sound too confident about the idea himself.

“It won’t hurt to try,” Bodhi encourages him. “It’s not like we have anything better to do for now.”

Once they leave the room, Luke outstretches his hand in Bodhi direction with a querying rise of his eyebrows. They haven’t discussed hand-holding in particular but it only makes sense and it’s not really a big deal – so Bodhi slips his fingers between Luke’s and convinces himself that, really, this is _not a big deal_.

They easily make their way outside and for a moment they just take in their surroundings, standing near the exit. While this is Kin’ng’s private island and not one open to all tourists, the whole planet is still focused on leisure. The building they’re staying in is encircled by gardens and there’s a beach within a walking distance. For now, they simply decide to walk towards the first building they spot in the distance that’s not their hotel.

It’s easy to just fall into step with Luke, his warm hand in Bodhi’s, and _enjoy_ the walk through the beautiful greenery. It's almost weird, the sheer knowledge that they can simply relax and savour some time in the gardens. After defeating the Empire, they couldn't really take a break – rebuilding the Republic couldn't wait. During the war, whenever they tried to find a moment to take a breath, the awareness that they're still in the middle of a galactic conflict was always somewhere at the back of their mind. Now, with war behind them, and here on their fake honeymoon, they can just _relax_. Bodhi wonders if he even remembers how to do that anymore.

“I’ve been all around the galaxy since leaving Tatooine, but sometimes I am still amazed that there’s so much _green_ and life on so many planets…” Luke stops to take in an enormous tree with long, hanging leaves that at their roots start dark green but then become brighter, almost white around the middle, and turn pink by its ends.

Bodhi hums in agreement. “You can take the boy out of the desert planet, but you can’t take the desert out of the boy.”

Luke giggles.

“You have to work some more on your wisdoms if you want to sound like Chirrut.”

“I wouldn’t dare to try,” Bodhi shakes his head in amusement. “I’m just a pilot,” he adds out of habit.

Luke squeezes his hand almost as a reprimand as his eyebrows move into a frown. “Come on, Bodhi, you know you’re more than that.”

Bodhi doesn’t argue only because he knows he can never win this fight with his friends. But isn’t it true? After this mission, he’ll be back to transporting cargo while Luke, Chirrut, and Baze will be rebuilding the Jedi Order.

“You feel anything yet? Any Force tingling?” Bodhi changes the subject and going by Luke’s squinting, it wasn’t very smooth, but he lets it slide.

“Nothing so far,” he replies. “Once we get closer to that building, maybe we’ll find a nice place to sit down and I’ll try some meditating?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

It doesn’t take them long to locate a nice clearing among the trees which is perfect for their scheme… In the end, Luke doesn’t find anything. But Bodhi discovers that maybe he does remember how to relax.

Laying on the grass under colorful trees with only the sound of the wind encompassing him, with the Jedi next to him lost in concentration… He learns it’s not that difficult to let all other thoughts leave him for a while and simply enjoy the silence; to put his mind solely into committing this moment to his memory… The way the sun makes Luke’s hair look almost gold, how natural it felt to hold his hand all the way over here, how selfishly good it feels to have Luke to himself for this mission… Even if soon it will all simply be a memory to cherish.

ж

Bodhi hums discontentedly as he brushes his hair with his fingers, staring critically at his own reflection. He recalls the intricate outfits and hairdos he saw yesterday at dinner and then eyes his own tunic – a rental from Cassian that actually passes the smartness test but the sleeves are just a little bit too long on him.

“Something wrong?” Luke joins him in the bathroom and Bodhi hesitates before answering, feeling foolish for being so concerned about such a trivial thing. But he knows Luke won’t relent before getting an answer so he disregards the idea of waving the whole thing off.

“I wanted to do something about my hair so that I look less like a pilot who just rolled out from under a ship and more like a Jedi’s plus-one but I don’t really know _what_ to do,” Bodhi huffs irritatedly as he starts putting the loose hair into his usual simple ponytail.

“I could braid it for you,” Luke says out of nowhere and Bodhi freezes mid-motion. Luke shrugs as if it was a common skill among x-wing pilots to know how to braid hair when Bodhi just keeps staring at him dumbfounded. “I used to do it for aunt Beru before she started wearing it all short. I should still remember a thing or two.”

“Well, let’s see if you manage to make it even worse,” Bodhi says, deciding that with all that he already agreed to since coming on this mission, he may as well have Luke braid his hair.

“You say that now but later you’ll be asking me to do it every day for you,” Luke challenges with confidence and Bodhi can only laugh in response. If only Luke knew…

Bodhi hands the other man all the hair ties he took with him on the mission and sits down on one of the chairs, feeling absurdly nervous. Luke starts without any preamble, dividing Bodhi’s hair and getting to work on whatever he has in mind. He sometimes asks Bodhi to hold a strand or lean his head forward but he mostly works in silence. Bodhi is acutely aware of every brush and tug. He never minded having his hair touched but he also never had it braided like this by another person. He never expected he may actually enjoy it. It’s somehow calming and… almost intimate. It doesn’t help matters that it’s Luke.

“Okay, I think I’m done,” the Jedi announces after some time. Bodhi wouldn’t be able to tell how much time actually passed, he honestly got a bit lost in enjoying the whole process.

He gets up to check the effect of Luke’s work in the mirror. It’s not overly complicated but it’s also fancier than anything Bodhi might have ever done himself. Most of his hair is kept up in multiple thin braids at the back of his head but some of the underside is let loose onto his shoulders. Bodhi genuinely loves it.

“Thank you,” Bodhi blurts out, realising Luke has been nervously waiting for his assessment. The other man grins widely in response. “It’s actually great.”

“Told you!” Luke says in a tone that definitely sounds more like a bantering kid than a Jedi Master but Bodhi cherishes the pure joy in it nonetheless.

“Well, I wish I could help you with your hair but I think even the Force won’t be able to improve _this_ situation,” Bodhi jokes before he gets too emotional about a hairdo.

“Hey!” Luke crosses his arms on his chest in outrage and they hold their gazes for almost a full half of a minute before bursting into laughter.

ж

The dinner is held in the same hall as yesterday. Bodhi hoped he'd be less stressed now that they made a good first impression and finally talked most things through, but unfortunately the nervous tug in his stomach is once again present while they take their seats. No one pays them special attention but, nevertheless, Bodhi feels like an actor shoved onto a stage to perform while being acquainted with only snippets of his role. The audience doesn’t know the script either but that doesn’t mean they won’t notice he’s faking.

Fortunately, once the food arrives, Bodhi manages to forget his worries at least for a little bit. In this part, the dinner goes the same way as yesterday – being poor desert boys who spent most of their adulthood on war rations, Bodhi and Luke know maybe half of the dishes they’re being served. Once again, both of them find it honestly fun to find new tastes they love and hate. Bodhi really hopes that one of the vegetables that weirdly looks like a cross between a potato and a strawberry will be part of some other meal this week because he’s become obsessed with it after the first bite and it’s really probable he won’t be able to afford eating it ever again. His delight must be obvious, because Luke casually slides the vegetable from his plate to Bodhi’s. Bodhi can’t find it in himself to argue and only bumps his shoulder into Luke playfully before eating the shared food. He _did_ promise himself he’s going to enjoy this mission as much as he can.

There’s one significant difference between the previous night’s dinner and this one, though. Their host doesn’t make an appearance at all. However, after desserts are served, all tables are presented with an ornamented bag. It’s dark red in colour, tied up with a golden string, and could fit in the palm of a hand.

“Tonight’s entertainment will begin shortly,” a human servant explains to Luke and Bodhi as she presents them with their bag. “Please follow through the red door once they open,” with a fluid motion of her arm she indicates the door not that far from them and moves on to the next table.

Observing that other guests don’t have any reservations to wait until the next part of the evening actually commences and are already examining the contents of the mysterious gifts, Bodhi reaches for their bag and looks inside as well.

“What is it?” Luke asks after Bodhi barely managed to untie the golden string and take a peek.

“Some kind of coins?” Bodhi guesses, taking one out of the bag and putting it on the palm of his hand for both of them to see freely. It’s a diamond-shaped piece of metal, the size of a standard coin, with an ornamental ‘K’ carved into it.

“I suppose that to be sure we’ll have to wait for the _red door_ ,” Luke says the last words as if they were an unfathomable concept and Bodhi snorts, tossing the piece of metal back into its bag. There seems to be a couple dozen of them inside.

It doesn’t take long for the rest of the bags to be distributed and soon the red door opens. Luke and Bodhi eagerly join other guests who march towards the door, the Jedi’s hand once again fitting against Bodhi with their fingers intertwined. Bodhi’s heart still speeds up at the touch but he manages to turn his attention away from the feeling of their flushed palms and back to their surroundings much quicker than the first time.

Once they’re inside the mysterious room, it’s no challenge for Bodhi to guess what the coins inside the gift bag will be used for.

The room is as enormous as the dining hall but the tables filling it are used for something much different than eating. They’re barely a few steps in and Bodhi is already able to recognize posts where you can play binspo, fan-tan, yarno, sabacc… And that’s just at the first glance.

Today’s entertainment is a casino.

“Welcome, welcome everyone!” Kin’ng’s voice easily draws the attention of all the guests who have migrated through the red door. He can’t locate them at first but Luke jabs him with an elbow to his side to get his attention and then points towards a small stage in the corner of the room. Bodhi was too distracted with the games to notice it earlier. Kin’ng is standing amongst a group of musicians, holding the singer’s microphone. They’re beaming at the gathered crowd, seeing the excitement.

“I believe all of you were provided with a red bag,” Kin’ng continues speaking, raising their free hand in the air and cupping the air as if a small bag was resting on it. “Inside you’ll find chips that you can use to your heart’s content in this room. No other currency will be accepted, my dears,” Kin’ng winks playfully at some guests nearby but there’s a faint warning in their voice that’s gone the next second. “If you lose your allowance, no sweat, no loss! But…! If you win enough, the coins can be spent in any of the facilities on the planet. A nice way to maybe add-in some extra fun this week or extend the party altogether. Good luck and have fun!”

The guests clap in delight at the announcement while Kin’ng hands the microphone to the singer and leaves the stage, joining the gathered crowd.

Bodhi can’t help the excitement bubbling in his chest. He wouldn’t really say he’s a gambler but playing cards was one of the few things that kept him sane throughout the war – both in his Empire and rebellion days. However, casinos were always a passtime for the rich that he never thought he’d get to experience. But here, with fake money and with his fake social position as a Jedi’s partner – it couldn’t hurt to indulge for just one evening?

“They even have the three-handed princess,” Bodhi gasps. “I’ve never actually seen it, only heard of it.”

He catches Luke’s gaze and realizes the other man isn’t observing the room but looking straight at Bodhi with glee sparkling in his eyes.

“Where do you want to start?” Luke asks. He knows this is Bodhi’s kind of an entertaining evening. They’ve played cards enough times together with other pilots, though for Luke it was always more about the company than the actual game. Now, he’s giving Bodhi an encouraging gleam in the blue eyes.

“Let’s look for Corellian spike,” Bodhi returns the smile, allowing for the excitement building inside him to show on his face, just for Luke. He feels like he should start with something else, something he’s not as familiar with and doesn’t have the equipment to play outside of places like this. But Corellian spike is his favourite game that he actually hasn’t played in what feels like ages – he lost his dice during one of the base evacuations during the war and still didn’t have the opportunity to acquire new ones. So Bodhi ignores that feeling as they start walking deeper into the room, steering towards the sabacc tables that Bodhi noticed earlier. As expected, the Corellian spike tables are nearby.

The first table they come across is already dealing cards but the second one is still gathering. They speed up their walk and join in the last second. Bodhi takes the player’s place and Luke stays behind him to indicate he’s not taking part. He does continue playing the husband part, though, as the Jedi leans against Bodhi’s body with forearm resting at Bodhi’s shoulder.

“The last one is the dealer,” an orange-skinned Twi’lek says, nodding at Bodhi. He gives her a confused look at that since he expected there to be a casino’s dealer and she laughs at that, but not unkindly. “Kin’ng likes for the players to be dealers in games where it’s possible,” she explains with a small shrug. “They think it makes it more fun and socializing for the guest.”

“Okay then,” Bodhi smiles at her, grateful for the clarification, and grabs the cards. All players put their coins in the pots and then Bodhi shuffles the cards and deals two to each player.

Everyone takes a moment to look at their cards and Bodhi feels Luke lean even closer to take a peek at his hand. It’s not bad for the first draw, he’s at plus three, but it most probably won’t be enough to win if he’d keep it till the end. With seven other players, someone must be closer to zero. Feeling the excitement of the game rush through him, Bodhi decides to risk it and trades his plus two card for one from the draw pile. The new one is a Sylop. Excellent! The zero card is a great draw at this point.

No one goes too crazy in the betting phase, they all add just two coins to the game pot. Then it’s time for Bodhi to roll the dice. There’s no spike and Bodhi hears the player on his right sigh in relief. He almost laughs at an open reaction like this but he shares the sentiment, he wouldn’t want to exchange his cards either.

In the second turn, Bodhi pays with one coin to get a new card. He must stifle all excitement deep in his chest upon seeing it’s a minus one. He’s at zero now _and_ it’s a Yee-Haa! There are not many winning hands that can compete with that. He only hopes Luke, still draped over his shoulder, is keeping his face blank as well and doesn’t betray his hand to other players.

Betting still doesn’t get too crazy, once again finishing with everyone adding two coins. Bodhi nervously gathers the dice and rolls. Fortunately, there’s no spike and his hand is safe.

Bodhi does nothing in the third round. His hand can’t get much better now and he doesn’t want to tempt fate. Unexpectedly, Luke leans in, getting even closer to Bodhi, and says right into his ear: “Before you throw the dice, let me try something.”

Bodhi only nods in agreement, feeling a shiver run up his spine when Luke’s warm breath hits his skin. When it comes to betting, Bodhi raises to four coins and only one person folds. Then it’s time for the last dice throw and he _really_ needs them not to match.

Bodhi scoops them up and looks at the Jedi questioningly. Luke cups Bodhi’s hand with his, guiding his fingers to form a fist around the dice. Then he raises both their hands to his face and brushes his lips against Bodhi’s knuckles in a kiss.

Bodhi has stopped breathing.

“For good luck,” Luke says, moving their hands back down and towards the table. As he unwraps his fingers and withdraws his hand, Bodhi hears the orange-skinned Twi’lek calling them _adorable_ and that shakes him out of the stupor.

He rolls. For the third time it’s not a spike so no one exchanges their cards.

It’s time to show their hands and the player on Bodhi’s left starts. With every reveal, Bodhi’s stomach jumps in more and more excitement. His Yee-Haa may be the best hand on the table…

It is.

Bodhi finally let’s himself smile widely and he heards Luke yelp in glee behind him. He won!

The players congratulate Bodhi and he gathers both pots of coins into the red bag. He feels almost light-headed with all the emotions of the round.

For the next round, the person to his left becomes the dealer so there will be no more good luck kisses on the hand since Bodhi won’t be rolling the dice. Bodhi’s honestly not sure if he’s happy about it or not… He doesn’t have such good draws this time and only scores a plus two as his final hand but the game pot is smaller by the end so there’s not that much loss for him. After a few rounds and almost as many wins as losses, their coins are at least doubled compared to what they started with.

“Maybe let’s take a small break for a drink?” Bodhi asks Luke and the other man nods, taking the bag of coins and fastening it to his belt so that they can freely hold hands again. They make a beeline for the nearest bar and they realize that, as with the food, they don’t know many of the positions available so they end up ordering two Spicebrews, not daring to try anything sounding too alien. As they wait for their drinks to be prepared, their host seems to appear out of nowhere.

“I see you’re having fun, gentlemen,” Kin’ng says with a smile, nodding in indication at the coin bag which is visibly fuller then when they first got it.

“Bodhi’s the best card player I know,” Luke replies with amusement in his voice.

“I’m decent,” Bodhi adds and Luke snorts. “I’m more used to playing in a hangar with grease-stained cards so this really is a lot of fun, yes,” he admits, feeling his cheeks burn a little with the attention all on him.

“That is great to hear!” Kin’ng beams at them and seems ready to say something more but they all take a pause to collect the finished drinks. They take a few steps away from the bar so that next guests can order.

“Everything has been great so far,” Luke says as they settle next to a giant plant pot that holds a flower Bodhi believes to be from Kashyyyk. It’s so yellow it seems to glow in the casino’s dim lights. “ _Oh!_ We didn’t thank you for the rings yet. They’re beautiful, you really didn’t have to––”

“I won’t be hearing any of that, Mr Skywalker,” Kin’ng interrupts and laughs softly. “I am very glad you like them. Seeing you wear them is the best thanks I could’ve gotten.”

Once more this evening, Luke grabs Bodhi’s hand and lifts it up to his lips, kissing his knuckles again, but this time closer to the ring. Bodhi’s breath hitches and he clears his throat to cover for it.

“Thank you, really,” he adds, looking at Kin’ng, since he doesn’t know if he’ll stand locking eyes with Luke right now. “So, are there any games you would recommend for us to check out?” Bodhi changes the subject. “I only dipped into the Corellian spike so far because I couldn’t resist but I’d love to check out something new.”

“I’m quite partial to Mahaa'i Shuur,” Kin’ng says. “Have you ever had a chance to play, Mr Skywalker?”

Bodhi doesn’t think it would ever be possible for him to get used to being addressed as _Mr Skywalker_ but he doesn’t let it show.

“Can’t say I have! Which table should we go to?” Bodhi looks around, honestly not knowing what to look for.

“Oh, I’d love to show it to you myself!”

Bodhi smiles in reply and Luke nods enthusiastically. Kin’ng grins, slithers in between them and grabs them arm-in-arm, with Luke on their right and Bodhi on the left. They all start walking towards the other end of the room as Kin’ng starts explaining what Mahaa'i Shuur is all about.

This mission may indeed teach Bodhi once again how to enjoy himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually learnt how to play Corellian spike for this chapter from youtube tutorials and now I'm making my own makeshift deck as a craft project to play with my flatmates and see whether it's as fun as it seems XD
> 
> You can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/hoodedmiho) and [tumblr](http://missmho.tumblr.com/) if you want to scream together about how Bodhi deserved so much better!


End file.
